RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil - Brazil will take a strong stance on service and intellectual property issues in ongoing trade negotiations with the United States, Foreign Minister Celso Amorim said.
In an interview published Sunday in the O Estado de S. Paulo newspaper, Amorim said services and intellectual property are "sensitive" areas because of the effect new trade policies might have on Brazil's domestic policies.
Amorim met with U.S. Trade Representative Robert Zoellick in Brasilia Wednesday for discussions on a variety of trade issues, including ongoing talks on the Free Trade Area of the Americas, a hemisphere-wide free trade zone.
"I told him (Zoellick) we will defend our interests just as the Americans defend theirs, without fear to disagree," Amorim told the newspaper.
Brazil and the United States have clashed in the past over Brazil's threat to break international pharmaceutical companies' patents on AIDS drugs. The United States says the policy would violate international laws on intellectual property rights.
The two countries also have ongoing disputes over orange juice and steel exports to the U.S.
Amorim said the United States remained an important trading partner and said Brasilia and Washington also share a common interest in getting the European Union (news - web sites) to eliminate agricultural subsidies.
"You just can't stop talking with a country with the power of the United States," he said.
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